donaldist

95/100, or A At least from my impression of Season 1, this is one of the most realistic series ever made, so perfectly capturing the stasis of workplace life, aided by well-sketched and nuanced characters like the believably horrible David Brent (Ricky Gervais). Consistently laugh-out-loud funny, but the cringe-comedy is brutal on the stomach if one watches more than two in a day.

66/100 I expect the rating to go up next season, as the show makes a lot of improvements as it works out its kinks. Starts out with a well-made action scene that's kind of empty, due to featuring characters with rather incoherent beats and strangely circular arcs; ends with an action scene that's riveting, thanks to that couple being in a lot more defined place thanks to some time apart. There are definitely way too many times where the show just rushes through a plot or an arc that could use some slow burn; once it learns how to do that, I definitely expect something better out of this show. Anyway, there are some quite good performances here from Matthew Rhys, Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, and Noah Emmerich. My favorite episodes are further down in the season: the tragic character study "Only You", and the terrific, bait-and-switch finale "The Colonel".

For a needlessly precise numerical rating: 96/100 Amy Jellicoe is childish, naïve, selfish, self-centered. But she represents the dichotomy of all humans: she is noxious and enlightening, toxic and pure. She has hope. And that's a beautiful thing to have.

For a needlessly precise numerical rating: 75/100, or a B+ Enlightened slowly ramps up in quality per episode as the show finds its voice, so the season rating of B+ (I'm a slightly harsh grader) is indicative of overall quality. I expect a higher grade for the highly acclaimed second season, but this is a very good score in my eyes. Anyway, this is a fascinating character study of a purposefully unlikable character, Amy Jellicoe (portrayed by Laura Dern in what might be her very best performance, and that's saying a lot), who claims she has a new worldview after rehab and thusly attempts to do the right thing, mostly out of inflated self-worth and arrogance. The show expands a bit beyond her after the first couple of episodes, but Amy is nearly always at the center. That is, except for "Consider Helen", which might be one of the top contenders for best television episode of 2011, a look at the show if it was from the point of view of Amy's mother, Helen (Diane Ladd, Dern's real-life mother, and nearly as excellent here), a quiet, emotionally removed woman who keeps a stolid routine that masks dark ghosts in her past.

90/100, or an A- By far the weakest of Deadwood's three seasons, suffering, in light of its expansion in scope, from a girth of plot-lines, not all of interest. A favorite characters like Doc. Cochran will have little to do but suppress lung disease in the background of an episode, while much time will be awarded to a frequently redundant conflict between a black livery owner and a racist drunk. That being said, this is Deadwood, so there's plenty of magnificent verbiage and heartwarming character beats to spare. As the protagonists are united in their attempt to ward off an unstoppable threat to the town, the community that has sprouted from a ramschackle mining camp becomes all too apparent. And it's fitting that it ends on a quiet note, several threads still up in the air, to emphasize that this is the story of a community's beginning, not its end.

What a terrific piece of television, fully committed to the scope and sprawl of the prison, constructed with labyrinthine preciseness, and capable of brutality and pathos at which previous seasons have only hinted. It's not any more subtle than before, but what's the point of subtlety when dealing with issues of such immediate prescience? A wounded animal isn't exactly going to whimper quietly. For a needlessly precise numerical score- 92/100, or an A

"Agent Carter" is a terrifically fun show, full of wit, style, and action, and it's truly one of the better TV series to technically come out of the superhero genre. It's also admirably feminist, although its intent is hurt by the cartoonish sexism on display in the series and the lack of female characters. However, the series is a must-watch if only for Hayley Atwell's entertaining and layered lead performance as Peggy Carter, one of the best to grace the small screen this year.

"Transparent"'s most impressive quality is that it doesn't try to be a "transgender" show, zeroing in exclusively on the character of Maura. Maura's decision to transition is an inciting incident for her children to examine their lives, and the show reflects this by gradually focusing more and more on her offspring. The second season benefits from a wider scope, overall, defining Maura's ex-wife Shelly as more than a Jewish stereotype and exhibiting the best cross-decades thematic linking since "The Godfather Part II". It's quite simply one of the best shows on television (if it were on television).